If Bryson DeChambeau seemed to be everywhere in 2024, he was

The last 12 months had it all – crazy winning streaks, great new champions, a major weekly arrest (!) and more. With 2025 on the horizon, our writers are looking at the most memorable moments from 2024.

no. 15 – Charley Hull goes viral | no. 14 – LIV, CEO of the LPGA say goodbye | no. 13 – The Solheim Cup parking fiasco | no. 12 – Open Phoenix Chaos | no. 11 – Hall of Fame Revival of Lydia Ko | no. 10 – PGA Tour/Saudi PIF merger deadlock | no. 9 – Keegan Bradley named Ryder Cup captain | no. 8 – Lexi Thompson leaves | No. 7 – Xander Schauffele’s big reveal | No. 6 – AK’s return to golf | No. 5 – The dominance of Nelly Korda

The Greatest Golf Moments of 2024 No. 4: Bryson DeChambeau’s big stretch

When you think of Bryson DeChambeau’s 2024, what comes to mind first?

If you’re of a certain age or from a certain sector of the golfing population, it’s certainly US Open won at Pinehurst no. 2 it resonates with me. With Rory McIlroy leaking oil down the stretch, DeChambeau, on the 72nd hole, authored one of the greatest clutch moments in major championship history, chipping a difficult 55-yard bunker shot to the edge of the green to 4 feet to secure the level and, finally, the second. US Open title in five years.

However, if you’re a different — read: less traditional — kind of golf fan, chances are you’ll most associate DeChambeau’s 2024 not with that week at Pinehurst — or, for that matter, any of his three starts. other major or 13. appearances in the LIV Golf tournament – but instead for his round with Donald J. Trump…or Tom Brady…or Tony Romo. If you get your golf fix via Bob Does Sports or Garrett Clark, maybe DeChambeau’s putt and smile with those YouTube giants was your most lasting DeChambeau memory of the year. Or maybe you’re not a golf fan at all, but on a sleepy sports evening in December, you happened upon DeChambeau in a made-for-TV match in Vegas. Or maybe you caught him in your TikTok feed last month when your algorithm served you a chronicle of the 16 days he spent trying to make a hole-in-one over his house in Dallas.

This is DeChambeau’s ultimate superpower: thanks to his vast social media reach and relentless commitment to self-promotion, he’s become hard to miss, even if you’re not looking for him.

Praising DeChambeau’s trademark skills is not to take anything away from the stellar year he had on the course, especially in the majors. At the Masters, he tied for 6th. At the PGA Championship at Valhalla, he came roaring back Sunday, shooting a seven-under 64 with his “B” game to finish in second place, one shot behind Xander Schauffele. Next came Pinehurst, where he knocked off McIlroy in front of a decidedly pro-McIlroy crowd. DeChambeau’s only major setback came at the Royal Troon Open, where his brute strength was no match for the stormy conditions; he missed the cut by six.

At the LIV Tour, DeChambeau failed to win, but had seven top-10s, finishing 8th overall. However you feel about LIV’s competitive format, DeChambeau’s indoctrination in the Saudi-funded league has apparently unlocked something in him. On the PGA Tour, he was a major talent but an outsider. Now, he is surrounded from foreigners, dissidents and so-called rebels. As he told her Telegraph earlier this year: “I came to LIV and suddenly there were players in the same boat as me. Because they were also getting stick, not from LIV fans, but apparently everywhere else. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like it, and I could share those feelings with my teammates and colleagues.”

DeChambeau can be himself, which is exactly what he’s been doing on his social media platforms this year more than ever. His popular YouTube series “Break 50,” in which he and his guest playing partner try to shoot 49 or better from the front tires, has garnered such a large audience — most episodes have drawn more more than 2 million viewers each — that he convinced Trump to join him, during a period when the former president was deep in a bitter campaign battle with President Biden. That episode has now been viewed 13 million times. As of this writing, DeChambeau has 1.65 million YouTube subscribers — 140,000 more than the PGA Tour.

That statistic would not be lost on Phil Mickelson, who months before signing with LIV in 2022 publicly criticized the Tour for its unwillingness to share media rights with players. Mickelson claimed the Tour was making tens of millions of dollars a year “on their media channel,” which the players did not have access to.

It turns out that players don’t need those highlights to grow their personal channels. DeChambeau has proven that playing golf for fun with other famous golfers and golf lovers is another extremely effective approach to building an audience. It’s a simple formula: let the fans in and they’ll come in droves. DeChambeau has another 2.2 million followers on Instagram, and his TikTok legion is 1.4 million. In his social media bio, he identifies himself as “Content Creator and Professional Gamer.” Note the order of those titles.

After his US Open win in June, DeChambeau was asked if professional golf needs more players like him.

“I hope so,” he said. “My mission is to continue to expand the game, to grow the game globally, domestically. YouTube has really helped me achieve some of that.” He added, “It’s direct conversations with people who really engage with what I’m doing.”

Scottie Scheffler was the best golfer of 2024. But most influential? That was Bryson DeChambeau.